"I think the biggest lesson that we all learned here in Northeast Ohio is don't believe the hype." Williams said of all the doubters leading up to the convention. "There was this pandemonium about what's going to happen, about how the city's going to be crazy."

"We knew we were (prepared)," he said.

"It just goes to show you do your tactical planning, you put the right people in the right places, you do all the training and you rely on that," he said.

When Cleveland was named host city for the RNC, the feds gave millions of dollars to beef up security. Part of that money went to buy hundreds of bicycles for the police department.

"The bikes were a great hit," Williams said. "They're a great asset."

"That was one of the greatest tools that we used for the RNC. They were mobile. They could be used as sort of a skirmish line to keep people separated and things like that. And our bike officers were right there with folks."

Williams said the 300 bikes the city bought are still being used to help get officers out into the neighborhoods. He said they're also used at events where large numbers of people gather like Indians, Browns, and Cavaliers games.